THE DEAD ZONE ~ Marhinki

.10

The woman screamed as the bullets entered her body, before turning in Mari's direction. Silence fell heavily between them. She raised her hand, blood dripping from her various wounds and pooling onto the floor. 

"Beware your dealings with the devil," The woman hissed, before falling dead to the floor. Mari blinked rapidly, gazing at the woman's still bleeding body in shock.

"Mari!" FLitz grabbed at her arm. "She's dead, you kill her, what are you doing still standing there?" Lasercorn grabbed her other arm and together they dragged her away from the dead woman. Soon enough she shook them from her and marched forward on her own account. She turned to the next door, once again kicking open the door. This door revealed a bruised and bloodied stranger. Mari didn't even hesitate, deciding to end the miserable beings life in a singe gunshot before moving on to the next door. 

"Wes." She breathed a sigh of relief and the next door revealed one of her partners. FLitz had disappeared off to somewhere, returning with a knife that was used to swiftly remove Wes's restraints. Mari happily handed the gun off to the expert, and turned to the next door, but as she raised her leg to kick in this next door, Wes grabbed her arm, stopping her from making the final kick. 

"He's not going to be in there," Wes said, releasing her from his grasp. "They took him somewhere."

"Where?" Mari ground her teeth and her hands closed into fists. She wished she had some sort of weapon so that she could slaughter each and every person she came across (excluding her friends of course). 

"I'm not sure, the blonde woman took him down this hallway, but other one put me in that room before I could see what room they entered." Mari nodded her head, before stalking off in the direction that Wes indicated. 

The boys didn't even attempt to stop her from kicking in every door they passed. They just watched her as rage fueled her into destroying every door that could be keeping her from Sohinki. And they watched as she would reach for a nonexistent gun every time the person awaiting on the other side of the door was not the one she was searching for. As she continued on, Wes would take care of the witness she left behind, using a single gunshot when Mari would have used two. It was a way of being resourceful, Mari supposed, but it didn't stop her from wanting to destroy the person for not being the right one. She had the strong urge to slaughter anyone who wasn't him. And she supposed that was a bad thing, but rage makes you do terrible things, and since Mari is a terrible person, it made her want to do worse than terrible. 

She shook her head as another person who wasn't him was awaiting her. She turned to the next door, slamming that one open with a powerful display of strength. It took her only a split second to register that this door was the correct one.

"Get away from him," She snarled, marching in there as if she were bulletproof. And since the woman was only armed with a knife, she was. The blonde woman moved quickly, fluidly placing her knife against Sohinki's neck. Mari met the man's eyes. He didn't look scared, he didn't even flinch when the knife drew blood. It was like he trusted her. It was like he trusted that she wouldn't let anything happen to him. Mari just wished that she could keep that trust.

"Take one more step and I slit his throat," The blonde woman threatened, pressing the knife against Sohinki's neck a little more tightly. More blood was running down his throat, soaking into the collar of his shirt. Mari didn't take another step, her eyes were locked on the woman. The blonde woman seemed to realize that she held power, because she deemed herself worthy to make another request. "Get down on the ground." Mari just grit her teeth. 

"I will not grovel in front of you," Mari said, staring into the blonde woman's eyes. 

"Get on the ground! All of you!" The arrival of the rest of them was making her panic. Mari could see the fear in her eyes. She knew that most of her team was dead. She knew the chances of her making it out of this place with her life was slim. But Mari also knew that she wasn't going to go out without a fight. She had strength, she was just using it for the wrong team. 

In response to her orders, Wes raised his gun, aiming for her head, doing his best to avoid Sohinki. 

"Get on the ground or he dies!" The woman was on the brink of hysteria. Yet even as the knife cut deeper, Sohinki still didn't flinch. He stared intently at Mari, trying to communicate that he had faith in her, trying to tell her that he trusted her. She hated that he trusted her with his life. She didn't trust herself with his life, why did he? 

"Do you have a shot?" Mari asked, not even trying to be discreet. 

"Yes," Wes answered, but his foot hit Mari's. Mari felt her stomach drop. He didn't have the shot. He just didn't want her to know that. Now this exchange was truly up to her. Now Sohinki's life really laid on her shoulders. And only her shoulders. 

"Did you hear that?" Mari asked, shaking the negative thoughts from her head. "We could kill you with one press of a trigger. Is that what you want?" The woman didn't respond, only yanked Sohinki's head back a little further, getting a small whimper from him as her grip on his hair tightened. "We could strike a deal. You release him, and you make it out of here alive. You don't? And we will be forced to kill you." Mari could see the blonde woman's hesitation. She could see her considering it. She could see everything falling into place. 

"Release him." Mari took a hesitant step forward, but the blonde woman's eyes weren't focused enough to see it. "Release him and you live." And slowly, but Mari still noticed, the knife lowered slightly and the grip wasn't so tight. "This is your last chance." And finally, she stepped away from him. 

"Permission to take the shot?" 

"No," Mari smiled. "We keep this one alive."